One of the most discussed aspects of the transition to electric mobility is the environmental impact of the production of electric batteries, from the extraction of the raw materials to the disposal of the individual cells used in electric vehicles.

Current battery packs are, in fact, composed of various types of decomposable cells, typically similar to AA batteries in terms of dimensions and cylinder type. This decomposable structure allows for easier repair of battery packs since it’s possible to replace cells that don’t work properly, extracting only the piece which is damaged or is underperforming. This system, therefore, has concrete environmental and economic benefits since it makes it possible to restore the battery pack without necessarily having to replace it completely.

After years of experimentation, battery cells can today be dismounted from the original vehicle pack and be reused for static and less demanding applications than those required for automotive mobility, but which are still useful for the stabilization of the electricity grid, being perfectly complementary with and serving discontinuous renewable energy sources (like photovoltaic and wind power).

There are a number of virtuous examples of cell reuse in Italy. At Fiumicino, Enel X is installing a new BESS*-type storage station in partnership with the company, ADR S.p.A., Aeroporti di Roma. The storage system in Fiumicino will be composed of reused cells – coming from battery packs of electric cars – at 10 MWh and combined with a 30 MW photovoltaic installation. The objective is to make the Airport’s energy consumption more efficient and less polluting and in this way contribute both to drastically reducing the polluting emissions of the Roman airport and to curbing its energy dependence, with protection from unpredictable tariff increases.

BATTERY RECYCLING

With regards to the recycling of exhausted batteries, it is worth referring to another interesting development. The Swedish company, Northvolt (Sweden) – the third biggest battery producer in Europe (with a total of around 16 GWh) – aims to secure second place through the development of batteries with 92 GWh.

With its recycling programme called Revolt, Northvolt effectively plans to recover 125,000 tonnes of battery cells and has announced that it has succeeded in developing the first NMC battery through the use of recycled raw materials.

TECHNICAL RESULTS OF THE RECYCLING

The Swedish company has declared that the electrochemical performances of the cells constructed with recycled raw materials appear to be similar to those of cells made with virgin raw materials, that is, extracted directly from mine deposits. The recycling process developed with the Revolt programme is based on a low-energy hydrometallurgical treatment and uses a water-based solution to isolate the metals and separate them from impurities. An ecological, energetically and economically sustainable recycled cell for batteries would be produced from this process. The advantages of the Revolt project would allow for a recovery of 95% of the metals present in a battery, maintaining a level of purity equal to that of normal new raw materials used for producing cells.

In addition, alongside the Revolt recovery programme, the Northvolt parent company is committed to produce its cells with 50% of recycled raw materials.

CONCLUSIONS

The ecological transition and the conversion of mobility towards the electrification of vehicles, as well as the technological challenge of developing new solutions, is an industrial opportunity for making the entire life-cycle of the vehicle, including the batteries, less costly, less polluting and more efficient.

The reuse and recycling of the precious raw materials with which battery cells are produced is a priority; with the current difficulties of the supply of raw materials form distant countries, no resources can, and must not, be wasted. Reinova – the Motor Valley centre of excellence for tests and validations to support in the development of electric mobility – is ready with its technical support and consultancy services to accept the challenge and contribute to the construction of more sustainable electric components, in line with the need to develop more innovative products and more efficient production processes.

GLOSSARY

*BESS = Battery Energy Storage System

**NMC = Nickel, Manganese and Cobalt

Photovoltaic energy is a veritable bottom-up revolution because it decentralises what has always been a production dominated by power plants of considerable size and investment.

The latest data made available by Terna, showing that photovoltaic technology is characterised by widespread distribution throughout the national territory, also near to users, both on roofs of dwellings and on industrial buildings. 

It’s very interesting to note how photovoltaic technology has rendered obsolete conventional thermoelectric (gas, coal or oil-powered) and nuclear power station projects, that is plants with a high environmental impact, typical of the last century.

Until 2011, Italy experienced a significant growth in the production of photovoltaic electricity. The country was one of the main producers in the world of energy generated from solar panels. The surge in installations in Italy until 2011 gives hope today for similar possible optimistic scenarios also over the next few years.

There’s been a lull in Italy for around 10 years from 2022 to today, a lacklustre development in the installation of new plants for solar electricity generation and this, today, is one of the causes of the current heavy dependence on the importation of methane gas for thermoelectrical production, besides for heating systems and industrial applications.

The golden year for photovoltaic production in our country was 2011, with installed power growing from 3.6 GW to 13.1 GW, an increase, in a single year, of little under 10 GW, a striking achievement.

The year 2021

The Terna report states that, in Italy, the total demand for electricity was 318 TWh, and of these, as many as 114 TWh were produced from national renewable sources, precisely 36% of total consumption and 41% of the energy produced in our country.

Total photovoltaic energy production in 2021 was 25 TWh.

In 2021 22.6 GW were installed in total in Italy, with 936,38 MW of new annual power, therefore under the threshold of a Gigawatt, around 10 times less than what was installed in 2011: the best 12 months ever in Italy.

In total, in Italy we have a total of 1,015,239 photovoltaic plants. Over half, 56% of the power installed, comes from plants of between 20kW and 1 MW, that is, of medium dimensions.

There are still very few plants that accumulate electricity in Italy, of which only 75,039 are new, and a total of 734.94 MWh installed.

The regions with the highest photovoltaic power installed are:

1. 1. Puglia, 2,943 MW (where high-power plants are installed)
2. 2. Lombardy, 2,711 MW (where photovoltaic plants are more widespread, of medium-small size)
3. 3. Emilia-Romagna, 2,269 MW (where photovoltaic plants are widespread, of medium-small size, similar to Lombardy)

There are a number of Italian regions, especially the other regions of the centre-south, with high-power photovoltaic plants such as Sicily and Sardinia, but which are still far behind the first three. Veneto is, as usual, showing considerable dynamism, with a high number of small and medium plants installed.

THE CURRENT ENERGY CRISIS

The electricity produced using imported gas from Russia is 55 TWh, while all the natural gas used in Italy, also extracted from the territory, produces a total of 137 TWh.

To avoid supplies of methane from the Russian territory and former USSR countries, Italy has to more than double the photovoltaic electricity production of 2021, which was 25 TWh. If it was possible to replicated the speed of installation that Italy was able to achieve in the year of 2011, optimistically, it would only take a few years of new installations. At the same time, energy accumulators would need to be developed that are able to balance supply and demand.

Production activities which use electricity predominantly in the day, when electricity is produced by photovoltaic panels, can derive immediate significant advantages from solar energy, both in terms of the reduction of costs in the supply of electricity and a reduction in environmental impact through climate-altering CO2 emissions, as well as a reduction in indirect atmospheric pollution that still is produced by thermoelectric power stations. 

SOLAR TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

A potentially very interesting solar technology, which it is hoped will be developed, is thermodynamic energy production, which has a higher yield compared to photovoltaic technology and doesn’t use silicon for constructing solar panels. The thermodynamic solar system is based on the principle of the heat pump, that is, the heating of a fluid by the sun. The plant is small and scalable and so can be installed anywhere. Thermodynamic solar technology can produce energy also at night and in seasons in which radiation is not continuous and prolonged, serving as a storage of energy. Unfortunately, this technology can only be used in Italy in the South.

CONCLUSIONS

The short-sightedness of its energy policy is having extremely high costs for the country, which has been unable to continue and maintain the photovoltaic growth achieved in 2011, today paying the price in terms of dependence and extremely high gas prices, imported almost entirely from politically unstable countries.

Also, as a consequence of the current energy crisis and the war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, it’s necessary to rapidly develop long-sighted energy policies, avoiding, as far as possible, risks of dependence by continuing to consume methane coming from foreign gas pipelines.   

It’s necessary to rapidly incentivise the energy transition, which will have both significant environmental benefits, such as a reduction in the very dangerous smog and gas emissions that cause climate change, and benefits from a geopolitical point of view.

Electric mobility will also benefit from the spread of solar energy sources, permitting the charging of batteries at zero cost, at zero km, with electricity self-produced also on simple projecting roofs or on the photovoltaic roofs of current car parks. Moreover, in the case of a significant growth in electric vehicles in Italy, the network will have a negligent increase in consumption, this being offset by the improvement in the energy efficiency of buildings currently in progress.

EQUIVALENTS

1 Terawatt [1 TW) = 1,000 GW Megawatts

1 Gigawatt (1 GW) = 1,000 MW Megawatts

1 Megawatt (1 MW) = 1,000 KW Kilowatts

In contrast with refuelling with fossil fuels, there are different ways of charging electric and electrified vehicle batteries, differentiated between them by the power transferred by the charging infrastructure, corresponding, in turn, to the stoppage times necessary to guarantee a certain amount of driving autonomy.   

One the great advantages of the electric car is the possibility of low-power home charging, in the garage, in the driveway, in the company, with longer charging times and low rates, leading to cost savings. It’s even possible to talk of zero-cost charging if the building is fitted with photovoltaic panels or the operator wants to attract customers, such as in the case of free columns at Italian supermarkets. In all the above cases, we’re talking about something new, a novelty of the electric car compared to traditional fuel-powered vehicles, which all require stops in service stations, with relative possible loss of useful time, with uncertain waiting times and in no circumstances are the fuels free.

Let’s now take a look at a practical charging example.

How long does it take to arrive at a minimum of around 100 kilometres of autonomous driving?

• – Around 6 hours and 30 minutes with current technologies, at 2.3 kW, in a perfectly normal 10A home socket, used to charge a smartphone or connected to the home TV (the washing machine socket is 16A). In a domestic system, the battery charges with a quantity of energy such as to permit a vehicle to gain over 10 km of autonomy for every hour of charging. It’s possible to envisage obtaining, without problems, well over 100 km of autonomy overnight, when the charge rates are lower.

• – Around 4 hours, with a wallbox, a column, a fixed battery charger, installed in the garage or in the driveway, suited to charging at 16A.

• – 1 hour and 40 minutes to around 2 hours 30 minutes, maximum, if charging with an alternating current, AC, with up to 11 kW availability. The charging depends very much on the power of the charged battery installed on the car.

• – Around 1 hour, if using alternating current, AC, with up to 22 kW three-phase availability and battery charger installed on the car of the same power (only few cars have this type, at high power, with alternating current, the current tendency is to charge with continuous current, DC).

• – Around 5 – 9 minutes with a “FAST” column at 50 kW DC, rapid and high power, in a continuous current, to charge around 100 km of autonomy. More a less a coffee break. In Italy, many even faster columns of over 100 kW have already been installed.

• – 4 minutes or less, of charging for 100 km of autonomy if the latest “ULTRA-FAST” technology is available, at 350 kW (today the best electric cars charge at up to a maximum of 262 kW).

The actual driving autonomy of an electric car will depend to a large degree on the driving style, the speed, the external temperature, use of the air-conditioning system, but most of all on the efficiency of the electric vehicle being driven. We have considered an average value of around 15 kW/100 km (there are electric cars, already on the market, that have a consumption of around 7 kW/100 km).

Reinova, the new centre of excellence dedicated to the development and validation of components for the electric and hybrid Powertrain, has today officially presented the To-Move project, the innovative start-up with the objective of designing and developing sustainable vehicles that can offer freedom of movement and flexibility with the right form of last mile transport.

In recent months, Reinova, together with the designer Andrea Strippoli and other talented designers at the Turin Polytechnic, have developed a totally new vehicle, a folding electric scooter made of bamboo. It represents a true revolution for means of transport in the future, opening up a new market segment.

Reinova and To-Move will industrialise the first entirely Made in Italy vehicle designed and patented for last mile mobility. It’s a scooter “forged by nature”, sustainable because it’s made with natural materials and environmentally-friendly, being powered by electricity. In addition, the vehicle is easy to handle, being easily folded and transported, like a trolley, in any context, urban or extra-urban, on public means of transport like trains and planes, with significant advantages from a mobility point of view. The modular structure of the scooter will allow for different speeds and accelerations, depending on destination and autonomy requirements. 

Reinova and To-Move want to provide concrete and urgent solutions for the new industrial revolution in mobility and to amaze with innovative ideas. Giuseppe Corcione, Chief Executive Officer of Reinova and President of To-Move declares: “I decided to create this start-up after falling in love with the ideas, passion and creativity of 3 youngsters. I feel the need to support the development of the new mobility in Italy and to create completely new platforms for vehicles driven by futuristic ideas that fit in with the circular economy. To-Move is only the first example of how Reinova can contribute to creating and converting industrial contexts without posing the problem of what there is to lose, but focusing instead on what can be created, seizing the opportunities generated by this incredible industrial revolution. Connectivity, sharing, sustainability and modularity are the cornerstones of this ambitious project, together with Italian creativity and “Made in Italy” value”.

Andrea Strippoli, Chief Executive Officer of To-Move declares: “Finding people, managers and entrepreneurs that believe in a project, in a design and in the spirit of 3 youngsters was a positive surprise. To-Move will make ideas and dreams come to life; it will give substance to different mobility concepts and will do so with the professionalism, know-how and agility of Reinova’s professionals. We will be rapid, agile and, above all, always innovative. We will be guided by the curiosity to express in products what nature already offers us! To-Move has been created to combine Italian ideas and products. Reinova and e-power will make a technological contribution to the development of the Powertrain. We will provide the right dress for the best of Italian technology”. 

The pen of Andrea Strippoli and the technological know-how of Reinova will together give rise to vehicles of the future. The scooter, in fact, is just the first of other projects to be presented in the coming months. Currently under development, there’s a project for a completely innovative self-driven vehicle and a very high-profile vehicle for big cities that will accompany people to the office.

To keep updated on To-Move, it’s possible to consult the LinkedIn page, https://www.linkedin.com/company/to-movesrl/

2022 is still characterised by sharp falls in the total sales of new cars in Europe and is the umpteenth warning of a big change in our continental market. The persistent shortage of semiconductors, the so-called “chip-shortage”, is still creating serious problems in the production and delivery of motor vehicles and relative sales to customers requesting them. This situation underlines even more the need, for vehicle manufacturers, to be able to procure equivalent and alternative strategic components, from various suppliers, diversifying the risk of line stoppage and opening the door to new competitors, especially those located in Europe. New equivalent automotive supplies can also be supported by specialised companies like Reinova, able to guarantee rapid validations, anticipated by accelerated laboratory tests, possible thanks to modern and advanced machinery which improve the safety of the vehicles and the reliability of the production chain.

January 2022 already marked a new historic low, with only 682,596 automobiles registered in the EU. In January 2019, before the pandemic, the number of cars registered was around 1.2 million, around twice today’s number. In January 2021 there was already a fall in the market compared to the past, with only 726,491 models, and today we are registering a further fall of 8% on a monthly basis. The January number of registrations has roughly halved over the two years of the pandemic.

Analysis of the types of power supply for the whole of 2021.

In 2021 electrified hybrid cars represented 19.6% of new cars registered in the EU, while in 2020 they represented only 11,9%. Rechargeable cars, hybrid plug-ins and completely electric cars, BEVs, together reached the figure of 18.0% of total car registrations, while in 2020 they represented only 10.5%. Only 19.6% of the 2021 EU car market was diesel-powered. Cars powered by petrol resisted, with 40% of the total sold, even though the percentage was much lower than the 47.5% in 2020.

Battery-powered electric cars, BEVs, were the ones growing the most in terms of sales in Europe compared to the other types of propulsion, in 2021, with +63.4%. Sales of BEVs were well over one million, 1,218,360 cars, compared to 745,644 electric cars sold in 2020.

Over 90% of commercial vehicles are still diesel, but there are signs of change.In 2021, there were substantial differences in the motorisation of commercial vehicles compared to automobiles intended for transporting people: only 3.0% of new registered vans are electric, while hybrids represent only 1.6% (perhaps due to the poor offer available up till now). 90.2% of the total number of vans purchased in the EU market were diesel during the whole of 2021, a sign that the more traditional form motorisation is holding for these vehicles, even if there was a slight fall from 2020, in which the sales were 92.4% of the total of vans.

Vans with alternative motorisations, electric and electrified, are growing strongly but are still, in absolute terms, decidedly low. The number of new petrol-powered vans, accounting for 5.4% of registrations, increased by 20.5% compared to 2020.

Outlook for the commercial vehicle supply chain

In 2021, the absolute European demand for diesel vans grow by 6.2%, reaching 1,408,376 vehicles sold compared to a total of cars sold, in 2021, of 9,7 million. The commercial vehicles market is a very interesting specialised market which will certainly evolve, albeit more slowly, towards electrification.

Reinova is ready to effectively support its partners in the development of new components dedicated to vans and electrical and electrified commercial vehicles, with rapid tests made possible by the improved laboratory equipment today available for the automotive sector. 

The crisis in the supply of microprocessors and raw materials and the consequent and unexpected increase in their prices which began starting from 2021 has required, and still requires, the development of intelligent solutions necessary for finding valid alternatives to, and therefore the replacement of, components today considered critical.   

The rapid validation of alternative solutions, with accelerated functional tests, will have to be one of the principle strategic activities of every industry with the aim of finding components useful for improving environmental impact and for facing unstable supplies from distant countries, in this way avoiding line stoppages and improving the ecological footprint of production.

Sustainable mobility is able to guarantee the production of vehicles that produce increasingly less pollution thanks to sophisticated and complex gas treatment devices, as well as hybridisation, electrification and the development of new full-electric vehicles. The growing technological complexity is causing in fact, a general increase in the prices of electronic components and the raw materials necessary to produce them, from finished semiconductors to lithium, cobalt, copper and aluminium. As a result, industry will have to react by continually seeking better, more secure, ecological and economic materials, thanks to the work and commitment of research centres and consultancy firms like Reinova.

Lithium or sodium batteries?

The example of lithium is striking: it’s a metal found today in every rechargeable battery for smartphones, tablets and electric vehicles. The possible shortage, however, of lithium mining capacity could put a strain on future supplies in all the application sectors of this metal, found mainly in Australia, Chile and Bolivia.

In actual fact, it appears that there are already alternatives to lithium, such as sodium, a component extracted from sea salt and from sodium chloride, but is seems that a number of years are needed before being able to start mass production of batteries made with this element.

Technological innovation is crucial

A technological innovation that can make up for the lack of raw materials necessary or the production of rechargeable batteries already, in fact, exists: with the recent 850V recharging process, it is possible to add around 100 km of autonomy to an electric vehicle in only 5 minutes of charging, thus allowing for smaller, less costly and lighter batteries to be transported. This would make electric vehicles more efficient and able to consume less energy to carry the significant weight of the batteries, currently still too big.

The main reason, in fact, for installing large-size lithium batteries in today’s electric cars is perhaps associated with the search for an autonomy similar to vehicles with diesel or petrol endothermic propulsion. While, on the one hand, this would meet the customer’s request in relation to recharging anxieties, it does not, on the other hand, however, take account of the increase in the price of electric vehicles that this causes, a price that is directly correlated to the procurement cost of lithium (calibrated according to the weight).

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the analysis and prices company, estimates that prices of lithium carbonate could increase by at least 16% and consequently also of costs of production of the batteries, especially those intended for the mass market.    

Today, the other extremely important raw material for the production of rechargeable batteries is cobalt, extracted largely in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the most economically and politically unstable African countries where the mining companies are accused of serious violations of human rights.

Its rarity and the bad reputation of the geographic area where this metal is extracted have provoked an understandable reaction of technological innovation, such as to already lead Panasonic and Samsung to produce the first batteries without cobalt for the largest producer of electric cars, Tesla.

In addition, batteries without cobalt are also considered as safer, even though today they still have a lower autonomy. It is expected that, in the next few years, LFP (lithium-iron-phosphorus) batteries will be increasingly used for electric vehicles, especially were a high autonomy is not required.

In conclusion, the difficulty in obtaining lithium and cobalt (but also aluminium and copper) is driving the research and development of alternative technological solutions that reduce production prices on the one hand, and on the other hand make the supply chain more stable through the use of safe materials with low environmental impact, and which are common and not rare, without excluding recycled materials. 

This is one of the reasons why Reinova supports its partners in the continual search of safe technical solutions which are not only economically advantageous but, above all, environmentally sustainable.

With the continuous increase in the share of electricity produced by renewable sources, in Italy the emissions produced by battery-powered vehicles will be further reduced.

The electric car’s environmental footprint will become less impactful the more the national energy supply chain completes the ecological sustainable transition for the reduction of emissions of CO₂ and harmful gases.

An improvement in the quality of life in our chaotic Italian cities will depend largely on the extent to which national industry will be able to develop technological solutions that are economical, recyclable, reusable and sustainable. Batteries will have to be increasingly smaller, lighter and with a high energy density, so as to make electric vehicles ever more efficient and with greater autonomy. 

The projects that envisage the creation of new, increasingly lighter and efficient means of public transport will be an industrial opportunity to support the ecological transition and collective sustainable mobility in countries like Italy where means of public transport are not yet sufficiently developed to sufficient levels for a modern and technologically advanced society.

While the endothermic engine is the true beating heart of traditional cars, the battery and software, on the other hand, represent the most important and technically complex and strategic elements of electric vehicles, continually subject to rapid technological changes.  

For this reason, a strengthening of a European industry supported by research and development and focused on the creation of a complete supply chain composed of electrification, batteries and software, will be essential for achieving continental independence from fossil fuels and for reconfirming European leadership, today put under question by the new technologies developed, most of all, in the Far East and USA.   

From an industrial point of view, leadership will be required in the next few years to guide the energy transition of businesses having to compete in the international markets of electric mobility and complete automotive production chains.

Reinova offers expert guidance, not only technical, but also strategic and straightforward, for the business choices of its customers, with an effective consultancy service targeted on results, marked by ethics, sustainability and integrity. Through research and all-round consultancy, the Company seeks to offer its customers the opportunity to take an active part in the ecological transition, thanks also to the financial support offered by the NRRP.

Today marks a special day of overcoming cross border communication barriers within the automotive industry. Reinova, the center of excellence dedicated to the development & validation of components for the electric and hybrid powertrain, comes together with Block Harbor Cybersecurity to launch a partnership to further products & services development in vehicle cybersecurity. Block Harbor is a supplier to major OEMs and Tier 1 Suppliers and a proven partner in automotive & vehicle cybersecurity.  

Reinova’s approach is handled through customer centricity, with a focus on R&D, testing and validation services on components and software for vehicles of the future, its modules, and its battery packs. CEO Giuseppe Corcione, immediately defined a need for future concerns of connected vehicle safety and has been on a journey to find solutions for the new generation vehicle.  

Today, Reinova is proud to announce a strategic partnership on new products & service offerings with Block Harbor Cybersecurity, a leading vehicle cybersecurity supplier for OEMs & Tier 1s. The American Company will launch lab activities in Q2 2022, out of REINOVA Laboratories location in the Motor Valley.  

The strong partnership will provide the skills & support to address cybersecurity in automotive and vehicle systems. Being based in the Motor Valley will allow it to serve its community directly through the local REINOVA x Block Harbor Vehicle Cybersecurity Lab.

This year marks a turning point in the mobility and connected car market regarding the alignment of cybersecurity requirements in vehicles for Europe. The European Union approved UNR 155 with initial enforcement starting in June, marking a deadline for cybersecurity regulatory obligations for the automotive industry.  The future of vehicle connectivity, electrification and autonomy alongside the corresponding business models depend on cybersecurity.

Furthermore, Reinova, aware of the utmost importance that the issue of cybersecurity assumes today for the development of electric and autonomous mobility, has decided to invest resources to support both the infrastructure and the training of personnel in the field of IT security, thus creating an Academy specification. 

Thanks to the fundamental support of the Adecco Group, a multinational staffing agency, the Academy will allow both entities to strengthen the theoretical and practical skill-set in cybersecurity to help create solid foundations for mobility of the future. 

The connected vehicle is becoming more complex with the integrations of EV & autonomous systems. Integrations are allowing for more sophisticated testing methods. Block Harbor & Reinova have come together to create a cutting edge continued testing approach to verification and validation in automotive & vehicle cybersecurity.  

Cybersecurity is necessary now more than ever as the vehicle becomes more connected. Vehicles of the future will be tested in the Reinova x Block Harbor Labs with continued research directly within industry.  Reinova x Block Harbor will ensure that the lower carbon emission future of the autonomous EV will be as secure as it can be.

Electric cars are often associated with a reduction in polluting gases, which are harmful for the environment and for climate change. A battery-powered electric vehicle, however, also certainly guarantees a driving experience which is very different from what we are still used to today, with the noises and vibrations generated by petrol engines and even more so by diesel ones.

It has been shown that most of the population has still not yet tried a completely electric battery-powered car. A strong, further acceleration in the spread of electric vehicles is therefore to be expected when many will have personally experienced the comfort and smoothness of these innovative vehicles, especially in the city.

Regenerative electric braking, which recharges the batteries in deceleration, is one of the main characteristics exclusive to electric and hybrid vehicles which limits the consumption of traditional brakes, also significantly. There are already examples of battery-powered cars that have clocked up over 300,000 km without the need for maintenance of the braking system, significantly reducing service costs as well. This innovative technology makes the driving experience even more comfortable for those who, especially in the city, have to frequently slow down and speed up.

There are no alternating motions of pistons, connecting rods and crankshafts in electric cars, moreover, making the vehicles effectively characterized by the absence of disturbing vibrations. It’s true that diesel engine technology has evolved greatly in recent years, but the characteristic vibrations are still clearly perceived on many vehicles of this type, as is also the case with gas and petrol-powered cars.

Electric vehicles, also used for public transport, guarantee, moreover, a clear improvement in the quality of life in the city thanks to the absence of noises and vibrations that too often are also transmitted into homes and other buildings.

Large urban diesel and gas buses for public transport are characterised by automatic gear changes that deliver real blows to the drivers’ body at every acceleration and deceleration, provoking tiredness and occupational illness that are, instead, completely eliminated with electric traction; hearing diseases and disorders are also caused by often very noisy public means of transport with endothermic motors.

For professional use, such as commercial delivery and waste collection vehicles, also at night and at designated times for public peace and quiet, besides guaranteeing the maximum comfort of professional operators, electric mobility should be taken into consideration for all its evident and objective environmental advantages, for the elimination of noises and vibrations, favouring in general an environment enabling a better quality of life for people in cities.

The automotive industry needs to quickly offer modern components in order to meet the growing market demand for electrification in all the different areas of the ecological transition.

Reinova is ready to best serve its customers with appropriate solutions for a more rapid research, development and production of new components necessary for electric mobility.

The data on car registrations in Europe give an indication of the effective remarkable speed at which the market is changing, abandoning traditional diesel, gas and petrol engines and shifting towards electrified and electric cars.

9,908,370 automobiles were registered in the EU in the first 9 months of 2019, while only 7,526,613 were registered in 2021. In the first 9 months of 2020, the dramatic year of Covid, 7,058,090 cars were registered. After 2 years, the European market lost one sale out of four in only 9 months; as many as 2,381,757 car registrations, or around 24%, were lost, meaning that on average, 265 thousand European citizens per month refrained from buying a new car compared to 2019.

The market data, therefore, seems to show a strong change already in progress, with the technological transition also clearly evident; modern electric and electrified technology is maturing commercially and is becoming increasingly desired by buyers, opening up the prospect of a further acceleration. Today, European citizens are wary of buying diesel and petrol cars which will rapidly become obsolete before completing their useful life, no longer being able to freely circulate in the city due to legislative restrictions, effectively losing their residual commercial value.

2022 will be the first year in which Euro 5 diesel cars will be banned from circulation in a number of Italian regions during designated emergency days as a result of excessive air pollution. Euro 5 diesel cars were sold from 1 September 2011 to 1 September 2015, when the specifications of the Euro 6 standard became mandatory. Euro 5 diesel cars, which will be banned from circulating in many Italian cities, have engines which until a few months ago were considered as modern and “ecological”, with low emissions of polluting gases.

In Norway, a pioneering electrification nation, sales of endothermic cars will cease already in 2022, that is, decidedly in advance of government programmes. In Europe the ecological transition of the market demand could be similarly rapid, giving rise to a situation similar to that of Norway: an automobile market moving much more quickly than what is anticipated or imposed by regulations.

Until today, registrations of electric vehicles have also been curbed by the meagre product offer, both as a choice and due to the low availability of supplies, making hybrid cars a preferred choice. Although sectorial studies show that the various hybrid solutions are the most expensive, also in terms of total use and possession (Total Cost of Ownership), it remains an intermediate choice, a choice “of convenience”, prompted by recharging worries and the consolidated habits of drivers, but also, in effect, by the insufficient availability of recharging services in certain geographical areas in Europe. A big push in the sales of the various hybrid models has come from their availability and ready delivery compared to their electrical BEV competitors, which are still suffering from low or non-existent stocks caused by the erroneous forecasts of the car manufacturers.  

The car industry must react appropriately to the new demands of the European market, which is proving to be ready for the ecological transition.  Reinova is ready to quickly support the validation and production and development of new components and solutions, also software, intended for the electric and hybrid Power train which is increasingly requested by the market.